Power play

In the sprawling agricultural lands of Yolo County, it’s not uncommon for processors to work at night. But this isn’t necessarily to avoid the heat—it’s to take advantage of lower energy costs during nonpeak hours.

The county recently formed a Community Choice Aggregation program, a city- and county-run entity that buys and generates electricity for residents and businesses. Mitch Sears, interim general manager for Valley Clean Energy, said the board of directors—made up of local elected officials from Davis, Woodland and Yolo County—has been trying to understand the needs of the region’s agricultural industry, which demands about 15 percent of the power load.

They’re currently considering rebates or programs they could develop to assist the agricultural community, based on feedback from those in the industry. Sears said that’s just one example of local control offered by developing CCAs, which have grown throughout California since 2002, after the passage of an electrical restructuring bill.

“It’s customizable; that’s one of the real values,” Sears said.

There are now 18 CCAs throughout the state. And one could be coming to Butte County.

The idea is to encourage a more competitive (and greener) market for the purchase and sale of electricity. Three key takeaways were emphasized for the Butte County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (July 24): If Butte County, Chico and other local jurisdictions create an open energy market, the average rate payer would save money, economic development would get a boost and there would be more local control, via management of the rates, power supply options and programs offered.

The supervisors voted unanimously to hold public informational meetings and discuss how to fund such a program, provided that Chico is on board, since its inclusion would make a CCA economically feasible. (The City Council will weigh in at its next meeting on Aug. 7.)

CCAs operate like a competitive business, said consultant Gary Saleba, president of engineering and management firm EES Consulting. There’s one key difference, though: “Your customers have choices. That’s part of the deal.”

What it boils down to is doing away with a monopoly—in this region, it’s held by PG&E—and allowing consumers to make their own decisions. With a CCA, customers can enroll in programs with greener energy sources, say 80 percent or even 100 percent renewable, and pay generally higher prices, or opt for mid-range ones that are around the same mix as PG&E.

Saleba’s firm predicts a minimum 2 percent rate savings compared to PG&E under a countywide CCA program involving Chico and unicorporated Butte County, translating to about $29 annually for the average residential customer and $63-$469 for businesses.

PG&E is still a key player under a CCA system, providing all of the infrastructure (power poles, etc.) and power distribution. The company, an investor-owned utility, is still required to deliver electricity and provide customer service to CCA customers.

Paul Moreno, a spokesman for PG&E, said the company has provided clean, reliable, affordable energy for more than 100 years, and looks forward to continuing to do so while also respecting the energy choices available to its customers.

In general, a joint-power authority made up of representatives from each participating jurisdiction is established to govern the CCA.

It’ll take between $4.5 million and $6 million to get the program off the ground, but that is expected to be recouped in two to five years. Davis, Woodland and Yolo County invested $500,000 each to get Valley Clean Energy started offering services this past June.

There is a recognition on the part of the industry that there is a changing landscape surrounding energy in California, and CCAs are on the forefront, Sears said.

“It’s just a different model,” he said. “[Private utility companies] see that change coming, and I think they’re sort of taking stock of that to understand how we all work together.”